Latest EB-5 Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor (I-526) Data

USCIS released EB-5 Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor (I-526 Petition) data that reveals a lot about what has been going on at the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) this fiscal year.

The table for the Number of Service-wide Forms Fiscal Year To-Date for the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2020 reveals a huge drop in the number of I-526 forms received between January and March 2020 (Q2). For comparison, in the 1^st Quarter, 4,264 forms were received, while in the 2^nd Quarter only 21 forms were received.

The data appears to indicate that, like many predicted, investors filed prior to the big EB-5 regulation that took place in November 2019 that changed the minimum investment amount from $500,000 to $900,000 and redefined targeted employment areas.

Returning to the table, processing appears to have approved. Nearly twice as many I-526 petitions were approved in the 2^nd Quarter. However, the number of I-526 petitions denied in the 2^nd Quarter also increased, but year over year, the denial rate is still relatively low. The number of pending petitions dropped, which may be a good sign that processing at IPO is improving.

The Approved Employment-Based Petitions Awaiting Visa Availability was also released this month. It shows 23,511 investors from Mainland China, 443 investors from Vietnam, and 51 investors from India with approved I-526 petitions awaiting visas as of April 20, 2020.

The visa backlog for India has nearly disappeared and it shows on the July 2020 Visa Bulletin which lists India as “C” or current.

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